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dmturner's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
An original. I have complicated feelings about the author’s (acknowledged) white male privilege and the access and safety it granted him on his adventure. But I also resonated with the way he was facing his mortality and the way he rejoiced in his small accomplishments. The picture he painted of some of the people he encountered on his way revealed both their resourcefulness and their frequent wrongheadedness, in equal parts.
His path wound through many places where I have lived and spent my time. He even went through my childhood town, though he didn’t describe it.
His path wound through many places where I have lived and spent my time. He even went through my childhood town, though he didn’t describe it.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer and Death
rjtifft's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
notspacemanlee's review against another edition
4.0
"My one solid conclusion was we should approach our own certitudes with caution. The more you look, the more you think and study, the more you open other doors and the more you understand how little you know." - Neil King, Jr.
Neil King, Jr. decides to take a nigh month-long journey on foot from Washington D.C. to Manhattan after successfully battling cancer. He did have to put it off for a year due to COVID. While I would not consider his "pilgrimage" exactly roughing it, like climbing the Appalachian Trail, he rarely uses electronics and instead keeps his senses in tune with the world and people around him. He is clearly very well read as he quotes obscure out of print 18th century books to books written by our founding fathers.
His preferred stops to tour are more "microhistory" than actual history. They would lead to good jumping off points for Wikipedia rabbit holes if any grabs one's interest.
My copy of this book was a Kindle. I would highly recommend a printed copy as there are many observations worth underlining and things to potentially write in the margins.
While I live in the suburbs where many seem suspicious of each other (and as a slight spoiler, the only places where nobody wants to engage King) - this book is almost a call, to even if one doesn't take a journey, to get off the damn cell phone, take the noise-cancelling earbuds out, engage all five senses to the outside world, and act with curiosity and generosity. Alas, the target audience for this book likely already does that.
I'll give this 4 stars, because it does become a slow read in places and sometimes the metaphors and comparisons reach the level of the SNL Skit "The George Will Sports Machine" - though I generally enjoy Will as a columnist.
Neil King, Jr. decides to take a nigh month-long journey on foot from Washington D.C. to Manhattan after successfully battling cancer. He did have to put it off for a year due to COVID. While I would not consider his "pilgrimage" exactly roughing it, like climbing the Appalachian Trail, he rarely uses electronics and instead keeps his senses in tune with the world and people around him. He is clearly very well read as he quotes obscure out of print 18th century books to books written by our founding fathers.
His preferred stops to tour are more "microhistory" than actual history. They would lead to good jumping off points for Wikipedia rabbit holes if any grabs one's interest.
My copy of this book was a Kindle. I would highly recommend a printed copy as there are many observations worth underlining and things to potentially write in the margins.
While I live in the suburbs where many seem suspicious of each other (and as a slight spoiler, the only places where nobody wants to engage King) - this book is almost a call, to even if one doesn't take a journey, to get off the damn cell phone, take the noise-cancelling earbuds out, engage all five senses to the outside world, and act with curiosity and generosity. Alas, the target audience for this book likely already does that.
I'll give this 4 stars, because it does become a slow read in places and sometimes the metaphors and comparisons reach the level of the SNL Skit "The George Will Sports Machine" - though I generally enjoy Will as a columnist.
eamcmahon3's review against another edition
5.0
This book was PERFECTION! It feels like Brett R wrote this book (shoutout to you, Brett). This book was beautifully written, insightful, historical, and poignant. I would highly recommend it.
Just a few of my favorite quotes include:
"I knew well that I was drawing on a privilege both of attitude and appearance and how seamlessly the one buttresses the other. Pushing open certain doors is infinitely easier when you inhabit one body and not another. Being white and male undoubtedly smooths the path and reduces the risks along the way."
"Being an Anywhere Person also makes you more at home anywhere."
"I think the long-distance walker taps some primordial urge within us to respond to the pilgrim, to urge him on, to hope a little of whatever it is that he or she might be seeking will rub off on us."
"... because belonging, as a skill you nurture, is incubated best in solitude. The reality you encounter as you move from place to place is not a given upon arrival. It is not a fixed thing. It contains elastic qualities that you do a lot to shape as you go. You form a space as you enter it. Just as you do a conversation."
"You bring meaning with you when you go looking for meaning. And the more of it you bring, the more you get in return. What you find is often fragmentary and slippery. Our histories personal, tribal, national, are mosaics of broken pieces and shards of tile and stone. They contain within them, perhaps in equal measure, order and disorder, reason and randomness."
Just a few of my favorite quotes include:
"I knew well that I was drawing on a privilege both of attitude and appearance and how seamlessly the one buttresses the other. Pushing open certain doors is infinitely easier when you inhabit one body and not another. Being white and male undoubtedly smooths the path and reduces the risks along the way."
"Being an Anywhere Person also makes you more at home anywhere."
"I think the long-distance walker taps some primordial urge within us to respond to the pilgrim, to urge him on, to hope a little of whatever it is that he or she might be seeking will rub off on us."
"... because belonging, as a skill you nurture, is incubated best in solitude. The reality you encounter as you move from place to place is not a given upon arrival. It is not a fixed thing. It contains elastic qualities that you do a lot to shape as you go. You form a space as you enter it. Just as you do a conversation."
"You bring meaning with you when you go looking for meaning. And the more of it you bring, the more you get in return. What you find is often fragmentary and slippery. Our histories personal, tribal, national, are mosaics of broken pieces and shards of tile and stone. They contain within them, perhaps in equal measure, order and disorder, reason and randomness."
rosietomyn's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
birdybirdbrain's review against another edition
2.0
I don’t know if I was the target audience for this. I appreciate the sentiments of Chaucer and Thoreau but this was a lot of pretty, relatable words saying life is more rewarding when you have free time and aren’t working.